That's So Unfair God! Let Moses Enter the Promised Land!

We have been studying life in the desert.  We have travelled with the Israelites and watch them time after time grumble against God about His lack of provision, Moses intercedes and God comes through, meeting their needs.

Numbers 20 has an interesting aspect to Moses striking the rock and the water gushing out for the people to drink when they arrived at the Desert of Zin.  Water is conspicuously absent, and the people let Moses know in no uncertain terms their upset. Moses and Aaron hear the people's grumbling and retreat to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.  God appears in His glory and then gives them specific instructions:  

Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 

The Lord said to Moses,

“Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.” 

So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.” These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.

God is very specific in His instructions to Moses and Aaron on how to proceed in meeting the needs of the people.  God is always specific with His people.  I cannot think of one time where God was vague with His expectations.  God's Word is a kind of sacred algebra:

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deut. 30:11-20)

God is telling His people that, 

• If you obey all of the crystal clear instructions I have set before you, then you will be blessed.  I am not asking you to go find it--it is right before you, explicated by My Word. I am very specific about what I mean by "obedience."  I am equally specific about what I mean by "disobedience."  I give you a choice.  Each choice has its consequences: either blessings or curses will be your lot. Choose wisely.

But Moses is not exempt from being obedient, either.  God expects the same level of obedience from anyone who calls upon His name, whether it's a prophet, a priest, a king or a child of Israel.  Same God, same law--no exemptions or exceptions.  But God is, above all, an egalitarian:  He has no favorites, and His servants are all required to uphold  His Word.

At the end of the day, we sin against God.  Yes, we hurt others, and yes, we hurt ourselves, but God is the one we have so egregiously offended. That is why David lamented: 

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge. (Ps. 51:4)

He sin included Bathsheba, her husband, his men and his nation, but ultimately it was God to whom David committed the greatest offense:  sinning as if God didn't exist.

That's one way to look at sin.  We act as if the universe is vacant.  No one is there to be accountable to.  No one is there to look upon what we've done.

It's just us.  

And we don't care.

For the moment.

But then, through the Holy Spirit, we realize how our sin is a kind of eclipse, covering the face of the Son. But His radiance still escapes the darkness, and shines even brighter in contrast.  When we confess our sin, the darkness moves away, once again revealing His light in our lives. 

God doesn't allow Moses the freedom to disregard the very things he is ordained by God to proclaim to the people. God is very specific about how Moses is to get water from the rock: 

1) Take the staff (the very one that turned the Nile to blood, the Red Sea to part--a symbol of power given to you by Me).

2)  You, Aaron and everyone gather together.  

3)  Once everyone is settled, and they are watching (so there is no doubt as to Who is making this miracle possible), speak to the rock.

4)  Because I am the all-sufficient Provider, the water will come out of the rock, because I ordain it to be so.  There will be no other explanation.  Without Me, it's just two old men, an old stick and a bunch of people with nothing to recommend them standing and staring.   

5)  The water will be for everyone and their animals.  

6)  Dusted and done. 

Now, let's follow Moses' process, and how it violated God's instructions:

1)  Moses leaves God's presence.  (So far, so good, or is this a commentary that Moses left God's presence in terms of his obedience?)

2)  Moses and Aaron gathered everyone together.  (Good.)

3)  The Moses lets fly angry words and lumps himself, Aaron and God into this miracle, excoriating them as he does so.  It's as if he is so angry that  he's saying, You losers!  You want a miracle, I'll give you one!  I am so sick of your grumbling and bad attitude, I'm going to show you who's boss! (Not good.) 

4)  He strikes the rock. In his anger, Moses hits the rock as if he'd rather hit the people.  His anger has blinded him to how God is the One who is in control of the people, with their good, bad and ugly behavior, and how God is teaching them to be obedient.  You don't demonstrate obedience by being disobedient.  (Our  anger never accomplishes the righteousness of God.)

5) Water comes out, but Moses is standing there, sneering at the people, and self-righteously judging them for the losers they are. (No. God is our Judge. We are His servants.) 

6)  Busted and undone. 

What is God's response?  

Because you did not trust in Me enough to honor Me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them. These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.

Can you just hear Moses?  Was he thinking, deep inside: 

• Wait a minute, God!  Even You get tired of them grumbling!  They are such an  ungrateful bunch!  They try You patience, so I thought I'd show them a lesson!
• I have honored You every other time!  I have been obedient!  I blew it, but hey, I am so sick and tired of these people, I lost my temper. 
• I am sorry I didn't honor You, but I have tried to.
• Yes, You still met them with grace, even when I didn't. 

You notice that Moses does not argue with God.  He knows God is right. 

Sin is sin. Whether or not we agree with God's assessment right away or come to it over time, sin is sin.

But before we think God's grace has an expiration date on it, or He exercises it a limited number of times, let's fast forward to a day in the life of Jesus: 

After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matt. 17:1-5)

Moses did get to see the Promised Land and the Promised One.

God's love never fails, even when we do. 

 

Oh Yeah, Just One More Thing: The Amalekites

Just when you thought...

Everything's looking a bit better.  Maybe it's not the situation that has changed, but me.  I am still struggling, but I am seeing that God has not abandoned me, but is walking alongside me, even if, at times, doubt still plagues me.  I see God's provision in the little things. I am trying--and sometimes I get it!--to see Him in everything. The children of Israel had food, water, shelter and God's guidance in a very inhospitable place.  Cloud by day. Fire by night. Manna. Quail. But, forgive me, Lord: I do have one thing utterly in common with those desert wanderers: I grumble.  A lot.

I am so fixated on the immediate need before me, that I lose sight of the bigger picture, which is You are in the desert with me, every step of the way.  Forgive me.

Then BOOM!  Amalekites.

Wow.  Really God? 

The Amalekites were tribal people "living in the Negev and in the Sinai peninsula." [NIV Study Bible, 26]

So, we have the harsh conditions of the desert, with all of its natural challenges, and then we have (wait for it) human challenges!  (Who would have thought that anyone could live out here?)

Give me a lack of water any day.  

I can slake my thirst but people have a nasty habit of coming at us relentlessly, day after day.  Getting rid of thirst is far and away easier than getting along with those who move, think and act contrary to what we understand to be the ways of God, as we dig through His Word, engage in prayer and seek to walk in His Spirit. 

Yet, if God is the God of desert challenges, isn't He the God of difficult situations brought on by people in our lives?  

These Amalekites originally attacked Israel as they were leaving Egypt. God takes a dim view of His children's enemies. In fact, because these people attacked the vulnerable Israelites, God has harsh words for them, which we will soon see.

We see God providing water from a rock that Moses struck with the very staff he used at the Nile, and water came forth. Paul equates that with Christ being struck for us and how He is the ultimate source of living water: 

They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. (1 Cor. 10:3-4) 

Christ equates Himself with that water when He talks to the woman at the well:

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

"Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:10-14)

Christ was struck and out of Him flows life-giving water that refreshes, revives and renews us. 

Out of the violence of the cross, Christ heals us, for by His stripes, we are healed. 

But violence in the world's economy is despised by God, for it violates His image in us and glorifies the flesh, which is contrary to His ways. That's why the Amalekites get into serious trouble with God. God has no tolerance for abuse of the poor, the weak, the oppressed and the vulnerable.  The children of Israel, while they stand on the shore watching Pharaoh's army drown, are people who have only known the violence of the whip, and thus, are vulnerable.  

Now the Amalekites come in full force, wanting nothing more than to rob, kill and steal from God's children.

Sound familiar? 

Jesus says of those who act contrary and rebelliously to His Father: 

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. (John 10:10)

So, here we are.  We've been wandering through the desert with the children of Israel, those newly minted freedmen (and women! and children!) who have witnessed God's provision and now, uh-oh, here comes these thieves, attacking the Israelites' at their camp:  

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. (Ex. 17:8-13)

Wait a minute!  Did you catch that? Joshua is given orders to fight the Amalekites.  Joshua!  His means, "The LORD saves."  

Sound familiar? 

Joshua overcomes Israel's enemies with a sword!

Sound familiar?  

Joshua speaks of Christ in our lives--He overcomes our enemies with His sword. Look how John in the Book of Revelation describes the risen and glorified Jesus:

 
And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. (Rev. 1:13-16) 

Wow.  Joshua fighting Israel's enemies is absolutely analogous to Jesus fighting ours.

What are our Amalekites?

Sin.  Despair.  Depression.  Fatigue.  The flesh.  Defeat.  Loneliness.  Anger.  Rejection. (Just to name a few.)

These armies are powerful  in our lives and attack us at our most vulnerable moments. 

But I propose that the Amalekites are more than analogous to sin and its damaging effects in our lives.  It's Satan himself.  He is the one who steals our confidence in Christ away; the one who literally wants to kill us, to punish God, and who wants to destroy us, any way he can, by using our sin nature and our vulnerability to his whisperings against God. 

But look at what God says about the Amalekites: 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven." (Ex. 17:14)

Wow.  God has a plan for the enemy of our souls.  His fate?  

Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. (Rev. 20:10) 

Blotted out from any involvement in His children's future, God wants us to remember His ultimate provision: the conquering of sin and death, through His Son. 

Then look what God has Moses do:

Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation. (Ex. 17:15-16) 

Our enemy is God's enemy, and He will not allow Satan to triumph, no matter how large Satan's evil is and how devastating his involvement with humanity is. 

An affront to us is an affront to God. He remembers us and doesn't want us to forget His constant provision.  God wants Moses to record the battle on a scroll so Joshua can read it (Ex. 17:14) His people will remember it, because as their future leader in taking on the armies of Canaan, he will remind them of the Amalekites' defeat.

God has given us His Word, so we can read it.  We must remember it, because as our Leader takes on the prince of this world, we are reminded of his future defeat.  

One last thought:  Just like Moses raising his arms to ensure the success of Joshua and then growing tired, we may tired too of raising our hands to heaven and beseeching God for a victory.

But look at what Moses rested his arms on: stones!

Sound familiar? 

 

Christ is not just a stone, but the Cornerstone upon which we build our lives. 

He is our Rock upon whom we rest.

He is in the field fighting.  He fought for our soul and now fights the one who would destroy it.

How our prayers influence God may not really matter in the long run--we need to be present at the battle, lifting up holy hands and asking God for victory.

And resting upon the Rock. 

 

Striking the Rock

The experience of the desert is forever memorialized by placing manna:

in front of the Testimony, that it might be kept. The Israelites ate manna for forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (Ex. 16:34-5).

The "Testimony" will later be applied to the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, and these tablets will later be placed in the ark, along with the jar of manna. [1]

Both signify God's provision:  The Ten Commandments provided moral sustenance, authored by God, to teach these former slaves how to be children of the one true God.  The manna provided physical sustenance, sent from God, to nourish and sustain these former slaves in their journey. 

Both are for nourishment and both are from God's hands.  Nothing in Eden came from Adam's efforts and nothing in the desert came from the people's efforts. It was God's plan from the very beginning that we are to rely solely on Him; what we have, who we are and where we go is from His hand.  We are stewards of His provision.  We are not its authors. 

So, God is providing a visual reminder of His provision with the manna in a jar.  The manna, because it was from God, never decayed.  It stayed in the jar, as pristine as the day it was gathered.  

God's law, embodied in the Ten Commandments, will never "decay" or lose its potency to guide a society.  It is as true as the day it was given to Moses.

So, now, despite the long list of God's saving, preserving and sustaining His people, we find them in the desert, grumbling...again.

But before we get all self-righteous, and say, "Oh, come on!  How many times does God have to miraculously help you before you get it?"

Hmmm.  Could God be asking us that same question?

So, let's take a closer look: 

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.”

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?”

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?”

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Ex. 17:1-7)

Once again, we see a familiar scene.  The people, terrified that this thirst they are feeling is going to be the death of them, start grumbling.  Again.  About the same thing. 

If you remember, in the Desert of Shur, they became thirsty and asked, "What are we to drink?" and grumbled against Moses. When Moses cried out to the Lord, He commanded Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water, and it became drinkable. The Lord tested His people by having them face a situation that required utter reliance on Him.  God through Moses told them that if they listened to God's voice, and did what was right is His eyes (by following His commands and decrees), they would remain free from diseases that He "brought on the Egyptians." (Ex. 15:24-26).

Then, not only did God provide them water, He brought them then to an oasis. (Ex. 15:27)

Now, they are in a new desert--the Desert of Sin--and here we are again.  Thirsty.  Grumbling. Accusing Moses that their exodus from Egypt will result in them dying out here.  

Same God.

Same power.

Same appointed leader.

Nothing has changed on the Lord's side of the equation.

Same seemingly perilous situation. 

Same need. 

Same reaction:  grumbling and accusations hurled at Moses. 

Sadly, nothing has changed on the people's side of the equation. 

Moses also seems to not be getting God's message.  He sounds afraid of how the people are responding, because he feels they will stone him. 

Wait!  Let's re-shoot the scene.  Let's fill it with people walking in faith, having learned God is sufficient for all they face!  

Action!

We are in another part of the desert, huh?

Yup.  It's about as bleak as the other one.

Huh, not to sound cheeky, but is there any other kind of desert?

Good point.  No water here either, huh?

Nope.  No water.  But, hey!  Remember when God provided the water the last time?  Moses hurled that wood into that bitter water and boom! We drank our fill!

It was so amazing.  But compared to what God did to Egypt--those ten plagues, saying adios to them Egyptians, and watching Pharaoh get his comeuppance, that was nothing.  Bitter to sweet water? That's just a blip in Yahweh's day. 

I know, I know!  This water thing--bitter or none to be found--it's just pocket change for God.  If He can bring that mighty empire to its knees, why would He send us out here to die?  Let's go ask Moses our next step.  Prayer?  Search party?  Moses hasn't done us wrong, because he is God's appointed leader.  Why would our mighty God use a man of questionable character and conduct?

Hey Moses!  What would you--I mean, God--like us to do?

Wow.  What a difference.  Gratitude is born out of experiencing God's provision and trusting His process, however slow or incomprehensible it may be, and we never cease to remember what He has done.   

Moses is instructed by God to go and strike a rock.  The same staff that he used to "strike" the Nile and turn it to blood, he will now use to strike a rock and bring forth water. 

Both impossible situations.

One: A vital river is turned to blood and instead of giving life, it causes decay and destruction.

Two: A rock, with no water anywhere around it, will bring forth water, enough for the people to drink. 

Interestingly, Moses gave the place two names, one meaning "testing," (Massah) and one meaning "quarreling" (Meribah).   Why?

The verse says, "because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, 'Is the Lord among us or not?'” (Ex. 17:7)

They quarrel about God's lack of provision and His absence from their woe and need.  As a result of this, they then question His very presence by asking if He's even around. They are doubting Him at the same time they are goading Him. 

Wow. 

The Word has a very stern warning of where the hardening of our heart can lead:  

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Heb. 12:14-15)

Boom.  Quarreling is the antithesis of living in peace with each other, and does not reflect the nature of God's character and those who call upon His name.  Quarreling leads to blindness, for we are so focused on ourselves and what we don't have, that we lose sight of His majesty and grace and what we do have. A pure heart sees God and His movement in our lives.  A quarreling heart only sees delay, absence, carelessness and disregard--all attributes contrary to the beauty of our God, but ones we start to believe God possesses.  

Then, with such a heart, we don't see God working.  (He is.)

Then, we don't see His answers to our prayers. (We are becoming too myopic to have the broader faith-driven than sight-driven perspective.)  

Our heart is slowly but surely growing bitter and we will cause others to stumble.  We give out tainted advice and reflect badly the One whose name we bear. 

Our bitterness, like the water the Israelites encountered, makes us spiritually unhealthy and we are poisonous to be around.

The antidote?

The cross.  It tells us that God is at work,  He loves us, He wants the best for us, that He is Lord of the hard times and His love is sacrificial.  

The cross takes out the bitterness out of our lives.  Yes, the desert is till bleak and hot, but we are not forgotten.

God provided His Son. Sin struck Jesus and what came out?  Love: undeserved, abundant and always present, ever ready to slake our spiritual thirst and bring us through even the hottest of deserts.

But we must strive to remember His ultimate provision--His beautiful Son--every day with gratitude and knowing that He is the same, yesterday, today and forever.    

[1]  The NIV Study Bible. 1985. p. 111

 

 

 

 

The Anti-Eden

We are going to pull the camera back, and scan where we are.

The desert.

Let's look at it from an "anti-Eden" kind of place. One of the definitions of "anti-" is "against."  So, let's compare and contrast the two places.  Eden and the desert are obviously different: One could represent the world before sin entered the world and the other could represent the world after sin entered in.  But how different are they, really?

First up, let's consider water.  Eden had four rivers flowing through it.  In the Middle East, rivers provide life. The water gives life to the arid landscape.  Think of the Nile.  All around it you find desert, but alongside of it, it is a beautiful green. The river literally provides life for the people who depend on it to do so.

The great cities of Mesopotamia are along the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers. In fact, "Mesopotamia" means: “'between rivers,' referring to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but the region can be broadly defined to include the area that is now eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and most of Iraq." [1]

Water is life.  So, you would expect to have water in the Garden of Eden.  First, as we approach the divine staging ground (pardon the pun) for the creation of humanity, we see water: "streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground."  In the next verse, you have this lovely contrast between water coming up from the ground and then God forming man from the "dust of the ground." (2:6-7)  Only when God breathes His breath into this "ground," molded and shaped into His image, do we see the first human. He is formed next to water. 

Then God takes this human and places him in a garden that He planted, not Adam.  The garden is replete with trees whose fruit will nourish the man, and the water makes that possible. (2:8-9)  

A river is responsible for "watering the garden," and as it flows from Eden, it splits into "four headwaters." (2:10)  So, the river provides not only abundance within Eden, but flows out to faraway places.  God's abundance is not static nor localized; He desires His creation to be abundant, reflecting His comprehensive provision.

The key word here is "provision."  The Garden of Eden is fully outfitted to provide for life.  And not just life, as in a kind of survival mode--but abundant life. 

But everything about Eden is from God's hand.  Humans did not create the garden, but they are called to tend it. Humans are placed in a rich environment where everything they need is there--but it is all from God's hand.

So, if Eden is the place where God and humanity dwell together before the Fall, the desert looks like a post-Fall-God's-judgement-has-fallen-on-us-in-a-big-way kind of place.  No water. No obvious provision.  No reaching out to grab a fruit off a tree.

Dust. Sand. Dirt. Quiet.

Yet, in the desert, are little Edens: oases. They have waterfalls, green plants, cool temperatures and are replenished by springs, with the water coming from far away mountains.

Is God reminding His children of that now distant Garden, that, despite our exile from it, how we are not exiled from God's provision? 

The desert speaks of His involvement, even where sin seems to have won. 

He still provides food:  manna.

He still provides water:  from bitter wells and rocks.

Water still flows, not in rivers, but in wadis, where the rainfall from faraway mountains rushes down to remind us how the desert and those who wander in it are not forgotten.

So, the desert and Eden are not opposites, but reminders of God's provision.  Everything that Eden and the desert have are from God, showing how He reaches out to meet and nourish His children.

No wonder Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life and the Living Water.  He chose two provisions that only could be supplied by God. The Bread of Life reminds us of the manna and the living water reminds us of the rivers flowing through Eden.  

He is from God's hand, providing us with salvation for our weary and sin-stained souls, and there is nothing we can do to provide for ourselves. 

God met His people in Eden.

God met His people in the desert. 

God met His people in their exile, their slavery, their misery, and in their longing for freedom. 

God met His people in the most excellent and beautiful provision of all:  His Son. 

There is no where His people go where He doesn't reach out, offering His provisions to strengthen us for the journey.

There is no where His people go where He doesn't reach out, offering His Son to forgive us and strengthen us for the journey. 

 

[1] "History of Mesopotamia," https://www.britannica.com/place/Mesopotamia-historical-region-Asia
 

 

Get a Jar

God works in mysterious ways, to be sure, but He also has a process that is ultimately for our good.  We may not think so at the time, but once we slow down and think about how He has carried us so beautifully in the past, trusting Him should for the future should be a piece of cake.

Or should I say, "a piece of manna"?

We talked about God's provision in the previous blog.  God isn't just interested in having His children eat, as crucial as that is. He is providing His children with an identity based on Him, not on Pharaoh.  

Pharaoh gave them food, but it was to keep them strong as slaves to build his monuments. God gives  them food, but it is to keep them strong in believing that God is sufficient in every aspect of their lives, as His children.  

Jesus later will use the idea of manna to make an analogy.  It illustrates who He is, and how His body, broken for those who call upon His name, will nourish them spiritually, and prove that God is sufficient for every aspect of their lives, as His followers.  

So, let's explore the idea of manna for a bit.  

First of all, it's from God. The people didn't have to grow crops, mill the seed and use the flour to create it. In fact, this bread not only comes from heaven, it's God's response to their grumbling:  

Moses also said, "You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord."

Then Moses told Aaron, "Say to the entire Israelite community, 'Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.'" (Ex. 16:8-9)

Did you catch that?  God didn't show up because the people bowed their hearts in prayer and asked Him to provide.  He could have been furious with them, to the point of abandoning this "Let's Build Children Out of These Slaves" project, but He didn't.  (If anyone says that the God in the Hebrew Scriptures is cruel or vengeful, you might want to point out, and this is one of many examples, where God could have abandoned or struck down the Israelites, but He did not.) 

Then, when Aaron is telling the community what God is going to do, He shows up and tells Aaron how and what He is providing for the Israelites: 

While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. The Lord said to Moses, "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.'"(Ex. 16:10-12)

God shows up even in the midst of our grumbling, discontentment and downright unbelief:  "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8)

Yes, He is the God of overwhelming holiness, but He is equally a God of love.  Jesus showed us this very majesty and very intimacy on the Mount of Transfiguration.  He revealed His glory: bright, radiant and overwhelming.  But this glory then disappeared as quickly as it came, and Jesus was right back to being the humble rabbi from Nazareth, talking to His disciples. 

Then God makes a promise to the people via Moses that He will provide their nourishment. They can't.  Why?  There is nothing that the desert can provide to sustain the people.  Only God's provision, and not some pitiful rendition of it by human beings, must come from heaven alone. 

This is analogous to works. The world, like the desert, cannot provide what we need to sustain us.  We can try to gather worldly rituals, ideas, and organizational structures to further our walk, but they cannot nourish our hearts, because they were never meant to.  God alone does that.  Even if the world could provide some kind of deep soulful fulfillment, it wouldn't last, because the world and everything in it is temporary.  Only God and His Word last forever: 

The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God endures forever. (Is. 40:8)

Only a holy God can provide the spiritual manna as embodied in His Son, to satisfy the sacrifice that God requires for sin, with Christ's blood cleansing our hearts. Jesus showed us how paltry works are, for it was only the cross that satisfied God. 

Our works are like using Monopoly money to pay our bills.

The manna comes down from heaven, and the people are flummoxed by it: 

That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other,  "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. (Rom. 16:13-15)

Hence, the "what is it?" is where the word "manna" comes from.  Jesus, too, as the Bread from Heaven, made people wonder who He was and what He was all about.  

Moses is very specific as to what the people must do to get the manna:

 Moses said to them, "It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.'''

The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.

Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning." (Ex. 16:15-19)

If God provides, His rules are to be followed. We don't add to them, subtract them, or reframe them in ways that make sense to us. Even Paul, a man of seemingly infinite patience, becomes very concerned when the Galatians started adding works to God's provision of Jesus Christ, and not accepting that He  alone is enough.  He reminded them that no works are to be added to Jesus' death on the cross. 

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Gal. 3: 1-6)

Notice what happens when the people gather more manna than they are instructed to, when they go beyond the omer's worth: 

However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them. (Ex. 16:20)

Works stink.  Adding to the Christ's death on the cross corrupts its efficacy, and fills it with spiritual maggots, which you could argue is a more graphic way of saying, "pride."  Pride stinks to high heaven, because we take God's all-sufficient work on the cross and try to add our own ____________ to make it, what?  More understandable?  More culturally relevant?  More appealing? 

James makes it clear that works do not save us, but are the evidence God is working in us:  

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? (James 2:14-20)

We don't add to the cross; we testify to the cross. 

Of course, because the Sabbath is to be kept holy by the people, they are not to gather any manna.  But some do, and surprise, surprise, it rots. (Ex. 16: 24-30)

Finally, one last comment.  I found this interesting: 

Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”

So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”

As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan. (Ex. 16: 32-35)

The cross is an everlasting memorial to how God sent His only begotten Son to die for us.  Communion is where we remember that sacrifice, how Jesus's body was broken and His blood was shed to save us.  He used bread at the Passover and I cannot help think that it was to be a memorial analogous to the manna saved in the jar.  His body, broken for sin, is shown in the bread to remind us of what He did.  The manna in the jar likewise reminded the people of God's provision in the wilderness, and how they never went hungry.

When we have Christ, we do not go hungry.

The manna went hand in hand with the old covenant, and the Bread of Life went hand in hand with the new covenant. Thus, Jesus' words, "Do this in remembrance of Me" echoes deeply from the desert.  

  

From Punishment to Provision

Pharaoh was the one who provided to the Israelites what they needed to survive as his slaves. Everything came from his hand.  But what the Pharaoh gave, he could also take away:  life, food,  security and most of important of all, identity. 

Once the Israelites are in the desert, they mumble and grumble over what they do not have: life (what they were used to) food, ("pots of meat" and lots of it) security (starvation is imminent) and identity ("this entire assembly"). 

 "Assembly" ...really?  Not the children of Israel?  Clearly, they didn't see their glorious inheritance of the covenant between God and His people.  Egypt with its enormous structures, all extolling the virtues of the pharaohs, the gods and the glory that was Egypt, meant that their covenant with God seemed pretty lackluster:  

Them: Pyramids! 

Us:  We have this verbal contract spoken by God years ago to our distant ancestor named Abraham.

Them:  Big statues of the pharaohs, powerful and looking divinely smug!

Us:  Some guy named Moses shows up, and tells we are to be free and how our God is going to demonstrate not once, but many times, His superiority. 

Them:  Gods for every aspect of life, carved in stone, and looking divinely smug!

Us:  We have one God. He has revealed that He is enough and covers all the bases--weather, harvest, water, animals, life and death.  

Them:  We were slaves and yes, they tried to kill our babies, but hey, we got up every day, knowing who we were and who we were not!

Us:  Who are we now?  Children of Yahweh, who really showed us and Egypt who is mightier, but this desert thing is not very impressive.  Well, yes, we have food. And drink.  And Yahweh's presence.  And security. But...

God is cultivating trust in these former slaves.  He shows them time and time again that He is worthy of their trust with all He is providing.  Yes, Pharaoh provided, but with a whip, and a claim to deity that is utterly offensive to Yahweh, and oh yes, all of those gods...Basically, these gods are what humans think gods should be and what they should do; thus, they are made in man's image.

That's the way humans like it.  Remember, the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil went into our collective DNA, and we have recreated the world into something we think is accurate and explains what we hear, see and feel.

So our gods are just a version of a mightier us, and while we are afraid of them, we seek to control them with ritual and sacrifice.  Because we fulfill our part of the bargain, we count on them showing up and doing our bidding. 

But Yahweh, the one true God, operates on a level He must teach His children to recognize and understand. He shows His glory to the Israelites, not by punishment and oppression to inspire and maintain fear, but by provision.

This is God's modus operandi:  He provides for His children out of His character, which is centered on lovingkindness--the word for covenant, by the way.  God is demonstrating His covenant by His lovingkindness in how He continually provides for them in the desert.  

God could allow us to sink ever so slowly but surely into the mire of sin and its deception, but He seeks to put our feet up on the rock, enlarging our view and seeing the world through His perspective.  

In other words, God is constantly handing us the Tree of Life's fruit, and asking us to partake of it.  

Jesus used another analogy.  He is discussing manna and how it nourished the people, but they eventually died: 

"Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' They said to him, 'Sir, give us this bread always.'” (John 6:31-34) 

Then Jesus ups the ante on this spiritual analogy:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” (John 6:47-51)

Now an uncomfortable part (God's words generally are): 

"The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' So Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.'” (John 6:52-58)

The people listening comment that "this is a hard saying." (6:60) and many leave Jesus as a result. 

But upon inquiring of the Twelve if they will leave as well, Peter responds: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” (6:68-69) 

Jesus showed lovingkindness every time He provided for His disciples and His followers.  He gave them a new identity, from slaves to a ritualized religion, to becoming children of God. He demonstrated this provision with His teachings, His miracles and His love for their hungry souls. His ultimate provision would be His very flesh and blood, broken and poured out for the remission of sins and giving us a new life of freedom and forgiveness.

The manna eaten by the Israelites nourished them and enabled them to survive.  

But Jesus was saying His bread--His flesh, broken and sacrificed to give His people eternal life--would  nourish their spiritual DNA, recoding who they were.  He would provide wisdom and strength, enabling His children to longer be slaves to sin's deception. 

In other words, those who followed Jesus would eat from the Tree of Life. 

The same applies to us. Jesus' bread, His sacrifice of His body on the cross, is ours to partake of and be transformed from sin's slavery to walking as His children.  We, too, will eat from the Tree of Life.

But we, through Christ alone, must leave behind what Pharaoh--the world--says who we are.  

The World: Big, flashy and very alluring to our flesh!

Us:  We have fulfillment of all of God's promises in Jesus Christ, spoken by God years ago to our distant ancestor Abraham.

The World:  Look at all the world has, seated in power and authority and looking "divinely" smug!

Us:  The Messiah came to set us free. God demonstrated mightily that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  

The World:  "Gods" for every aspect of life--money, sex, power, indulgence and pleasure--inviting us to bend our knee and join in, so we, too, can be smug as we show off what we have and who we are!

Us:  One God. We only need Him--He fulfills every aspect of who we are, and transforms us to be what we were intended to be. 

The World: We are slaves and yes, the world tries to kill our souls, but hey, what a ride, huh? 

Us:  Who are now children of God.  He has triumphed over the prince of this world, for greater is He who is in us, than he who is in the world. Christ is our food, our drink, and will never leave nor forsake us. We are secure in Him, and He stands by us.  

From punishment to provision:  What a holy ride, huh?

  

Children, Not Slaves

It's been a while! Thank you for your patience.  I went out of town and then celebrated Thanksgiving. I hope yours was a restful time with family and friends.  God is so good, and I love having a holiday that focuses on just that: being thankful for the bounty in our lives that He has provided.   

You can take the people out of Egypt, but it's hard to take Egypt out of the people. 

These former slaves were now God's new creation, and He was making sure that His people understood that. God doesn't just take your life and make it better--He gives you a new life with new values, and new ways of seeing the world with a new heart.  

The old heart, sent to you directly from Adam and Eve, is broken, corrupt and hostile to the things of God.  

But God is in the business of allowing us to start over.  We are not given a second chance in our old selves,  but we are transformed by choosing to follow Jesus and not continuing to follow our flesh. With His Spirit in us, we are born anew. If you think about it, He is allowing us to return to the Garden, metaphorically, where we walk and talk with Him in the cool of the day.  He has brought us into a new relationship through Christ by His death on the cross.

Sometimes we watch the people wandering in the desert, and wonder, Why didn't they get it? 

It takes God time to recraft slaves into His sons and daughters.  We may ask Jesus into our heart and that is our moment of freedom, just like the Red Sea drowning Pharoah and his army, and the people no longer in danger of being captured and sent back to Egypt as slaves.

But that moment of new birth begins a period of recrafting, transforming and teaching us what our new status is and how we are to operate. 

Look what Paul says:

• "Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? When we were baptized into his death, we were placed into the tomb with him. As Christ was brought back from death to life by the glorious power of the Father, so we, too, should live a new kind of life. If we’ve become united with him in a death like his, certainly we will also be united with him when we come back to life as he did. We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. The person who has died has been freed from sin." (Rom. 6:1-7)

• "So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir." (Gal. 4:7)

• "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Rom. 8:15)

The note in Bible Gateway says for Romans 8:15: "The Greek word for adoption to sonship is a term referring to the full legal standing of an adopted male heir in Roman culture..."  

Talk about a change, a transformation into an entirely new status, with all of the rights and privileges thereof!   

You notice that, just like the children in the desert, we are in our own desert of slavery to sin.  Oh, we know who the Pharaoh is--Satan--for he never ceases to remind us that we are his, for we are enslaved to our sin nature, to our flesh, with no redemption possible. 

Wrong. 
 

God redeems us and makes us His children and as His children, we are His heirs.  To what?  All He has for us without interference from our previous status.

Yes, our sin natures asserts itself.  Yes, Satan is constantly trying to tear down our new status with his accusations of, "You are not good enough for that!" or "You are such a poser--if everyone knew the true you, they would see just how much of a hypocrite you really are!" 

If our status was dependent on what we did, we'd be back to works:  Trying to do, do, do to keep earning God's favor.

Wrong. 

Works--the doing--is not what God bestowed on us. He didn't say, "Here's some new things you can do for Me."  A slave is still a slave, no matter what he or she does.  But God gave us a new status, a new  position that is not dependent on what we do, but who we are in Christ:

 
"But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace." (Rom. 11:6)

Boom. 

Slaves has no choice.  They can be good slaves, a recalcitrant ones, a rebellious ones or obedient ones, but their status does not change.

But in Christ, we have a choice:  We can love Him, serve Him, seek forgiveness from Him, remember Him as our Father, our Savior, our God, and walk with a heart set free.

Satan's time is running out, but he still tries to frighten us with his army chasing after us, and sometimes our back will be to the sea.

But we are children of God, so why wouldn't He part it?

Jesus reminded people just how good the Father is:

“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" (Matt. 7:9-11)

God expects and empowers us to act as His children, for He is rich in kindness and mercy to those whom He loves.  

That is one of the reasons, I sincerely believe, why the Israelites' behavior infuriated God:  They still were acting as slaves, and not as His children.

Hence, the Law.  The Law was one gigantic corral that keep evil out and protected His children from within.  It didn't save them but guided them into acting like God's children, and not as slaves anymore.  When they reverted back, by grumbling, creating an idol and engaging in immoral behavior, God could point to the Law and say, 

I told you how I want you to act.  You are not to act like this--only slaves act that way!  You are no longer slaves but My chosen people!

Do we exasperate God with our failure to see, act and model our status as His children? 

I wonder, Why don't we get it?